Childhood Education

Is it who or whom? You and me — or you and I? Pronouns can be tricky. We tend not to think about them in daily speech, but using them correctly is essential to good grammar. Importance of Grammar Even though people can make themselves understood while using the wrong…

One of kids’ favorite games is Operation. This game, which teaches anatomy by having players “remove” damaged organs with tweezers, has been around over fifty years and been released in numerous versions. It is, however, a bit hard for younger kids to play because it requires well-developed, fine motor skills.…

Adults might think that poring over a dictionary wouldn’t be the most fun way to spend an afternoon, but many kids find dictionaries to be fascinating. Dictionaries contain an abundance of information about words, including: Definitions Origins The part of speech the word is How to make it plural How…

Ice. Water. Steam. Finding out that these are all the same substance is a “Wow!” experience for kids. After the initial wonderment, they often ask: “How can they be the same thing?”Learning that there are different types of matter all around us is an important science lesson kids will repeatedly…

With the big splash the latest Star Wars movie has made, interest in space is again surging. Movies like this trigger kids’ imaginations as they picture themselves zooming through space in an X-wing fighter. Such interest creates a teachable moment, a time when parents and teachers can capitalize on kids’…

Coloring is a favorite activity for many preschool kids. For the parent who wants to make the most of learning opportunities, coloring provides numerous ways to expand a child’s early education. Most parents are aware that coloring helps kids to develop fine motor skills, patience, and concentration, all of which…

The frog life cycle is fascinating to both kids and adults. It’s amazing to watch the eggs hatch into tiny tadpoles that swim around like fish, then slowly grow legs and lose their tails until they finally hop out of the water as frogs. Witnessing this metamorphosis in real life…

Learning sight words is an important step to building speed and fluency while reading. Sight words are simply those that are frequently used, and are the foundation to building a strong vocabulary. Below are seven easy sight word games for kids to improve recognition: Bingo Simply print out a Bingo…

With their varying shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns, butterflies have long captured the interest of children. Equally as captivating is the transformation, or metamorphosis, each butterfly endures to become the delicate and graceful insects we love. The butterfly life cycle is comprised of four different stages, each of which differs…

Math has a bum rap in our society. Almost universally, students dread math in the upper grades, college, and beyond. But typically, preschool and elementary school kids don’t share that attitude. During these early years, they are wired to learn and are as excited about learning math as they are about…

Teachable moments in which we can help children learn popup at the most unexpected times. Our everyday world is constantly presenting opportunities to teach once we make the commitment to look for them. A great example is number recognition. Once you and your child start looking for numbers together, your child…

As most of us know, helping our children build strong language skills starting at a young age is incredibly important for their future academic success. One major component of these language skills is vocabulary. Among the many benefits to possessing a rich vocabulary are: improved comprehension when reading, the ability…

Simply put, gravity is the force of the earth that pulls objects towards its core, preventing them from floating off into space. For many adults, explaining the concept of gravity to a child can seem daunting. However, through the use of the following gravity experiments for kids, children will gain…

During pre-school, much of the focus for learning is on the alphabet. It takes time for a young mind to learn to identify all 26 letters — plus, they have to do it twice, once for capital letters and the other for small letters. That’s a tall order for a…

Learning about nature is something that is really exciting and fun for kids, and getting a good understanding of basic climate and biology principles is a fundamental part of science for any elementary school student. Using videos really makes the weather, climate and habitat information come alive for kids, giving…

Writing doesn’t have to be a struggle! Through the use of tools like a simple sentences worksheet, quizzes and games, kids can get the practice that they need to build a strong foundation in writing in a fun way. The reason that it’s so important for children to learn to…

Road trips offer a unique opportunity to visit national landmarks and natural wonders unique to a particular state or region. However, the travel time in between attractions can leave kids in need of entertainment. While movies and handheld video games serve as fun distractions, they don’t always offer the most…

What are Compound Words? Compound words are formed when two or more words are joined together to create a new word that has an entirely new meaning. For example, “sun” and “flower” are two different words, but when fused together, they form another word, Sunflower. These words are formed by…

Kids just love to tell stories, recite poems, and sing songs. Once they start, there’s no stopping them. Let them do it. It might seem to be just for fun but it can work to develop their skills too, especially phonetics and syllables. These two skills are an essential component…

As a new school year begins, teachers and parents once again have the opportunity to introduce their students and children to new and exciting topics. Summer rain, hot days at the beach, and water sports on the lake make for an easy segue into one such topic on the…

Verb tenses might be the most difficult of all English grammar skills to master. And for good reason – there are so many rules to learn and so many guidelines to follow. Do you know that Chinese language doesn’t have any tenses? Seems incredible, right? But English grammar doesn’t offer…

At TurtleDiary.com, we were recently challenged by fellow educators to come up with the ten most important science facts we felt every child should know before graduating from elementary school. Honestly, we couldn’t come up with the ten most important. There are so many things kids should know about science…

Parents often claim that they have difficulty helping their kids with math. It’s no wonder – if you think back to the subjects that you had trouble with in school, chances are that math is at the forefront. You probably began experiencing problems as early on as second grade math.…

Kids love to learn. You know this, because you’ve seen your kids over and over picking up new skills that you never expected. Just think about learning to walk – they pretty much pick it up all on their own! And next thing you know, they’re talking and singing and…

As kids get older, it’s important to start teaching them how to identify basic shapes. In real life, they’re going to see circles, squares, rectangles, hexagons, and more. There are several questions surrounding this topic. For instance, where do you start teaching basic shapes to your kindergartener? What’s the importance…